<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN">
<HTML><HEAD>
<META http-equiv=Content-Type content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<META content="MSHTML 6.00.2900.3562" name=GENERATOR>
<STYLE></STYLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY bgColor=#ffffff><FONT face=Arial size=2>
<DIV id=qb_0>
<DIV class="citation quoted1">>It's working. You can see the palettes
at<BR><BR>><A class=fixed
href="http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/images/c/cd/Iconic_Turtle_Art.odt"
target=_blank>http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/images/c/cd/Iconic_Turtle_Art.odt</A><BR><BR>>I'll
extract some Journal entries using these tiles tomorrow and post<BR>>them,
along with a bundle of .svg files of tiles and palettes with<BR>>installation
instructions.<BR></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Thanks, that's great news! Then we can get some user feedback</DIV>
<DIV class="citation quoted1"> </DIV>
<DIV class="citation quoted1">>Nobody knows the age limit on teaching
graphical programming.<BR></DIV>
<DIV>Experience with Scratch and GameMaker is that it works at the whole of a
class down to <BR>grade 3 though I have had smart individuals down to grade 1.
But I note that the <BR>cognitive load is higher for these programming tools,
they allow multiple objects and are <BR>event driven. The beauty of Turtle Art
is its simplicity, only 1 object, the turtle and <BR>no need to get your head
around events and their associated actions.<BR><BR>So I agree, lets get
something out there, get it road tested and refined and see how low <BR>it will
go.<BR></DIV>
<DIV class="citation quoted1"> </DIV>
<DIV class="citation quoted1">> ←→↑↓↗↘↶↷↺↻√∡⊥∧∨∼ and others.<BR></DIV>
<DIV>Was thinking, turtle motion arrows should have a picture of the turtle too
- to underline <BR>that they are from the turtle's frame, not the
child's.<BR><BR>Younger children will have problems with mouse control,
particularly with the XO, maybe <BR>the blocks should be bigger?<BR><BR>In slow
mode, the blocks could light up as they execute.<BR><BR>Clean could be a pencil
eraser or blackboard duster.<BR><BR>Which are better for flow control, smileys
or coloured dots?<BR><BR>0-= I prefer 012, if they can't recognise numerals they
will have trouble entering them <BR>anyway.<BR><BR>Where the graphic is not
reasonably intuitive, maybe better to retain the text? At least <BR>an adult
could read them. Walter is going to do tool tips, that would make my point
<BR>irrelevant, graphics on blocks with text tooltips.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV class="citation quoted1">>They don't need localization. This is
important for children whose<BR>>language of instruction is not their native
language. English in<BR>>Ghana, for example, or French until recently in
Rwanda.</DIV>
<DIV class="citation quoted1"><BR> </DIV>
<DIV>Yes, reminds me of Vanuatu, their local language is spoken the village,
Bislama is the <BR>national language but the language of instruction may be
English or French. I doubt we <BR>would ever see localisation down to the local
language level, maybe 1000 speakers.<BR><BR>Final thought. We are not
eliminating language, just substituting one symbol set for <BR>another,
hopefully more recognisable ones. Language in the wider sense is symbols with
<BR>meanings which can be used for communication and as tools to think with.
Mathematics is a <BR>language too. Though some blocks could have photorealistic
symbols, we are mostly using <BR>abstract symbols like the arrow. (the arrow is
based on the bow and arrow but we have all <BR>but forgotten the roots of its
symbolism).<BR><BR>Which gives me another thought. Could we have animated images
on the blocks. Then we <BR>could photorealistically represent actions like move
and flow control.<BR><BR>All just topics for discussion, very happy with what
you have done, looking forward to <BR>the installable
bundle.<BR><BR>Tony<BR></DIV></FONT></BODY></HTML>